Oconee St. park and ride opens to the public

Almost 10 years in the making, the Oconee Street Park and Ride complex is now up and running.

The genesis of the new parking lot at Oconee Street and the Athens Perimeter came in 2004 with a $2.4 million earmark from then-U.S. Rep. Max Burns. The final product is a 223-space public parking lot with direct access to the bus line.

“This is not just about cars. Multimodal is a word that we hear a lot in regard to transit and this lot will illustrate those concepts with features that are enhancements for vehicles, bike riders and pedestrians,” Mayor Nancy Denson said at its Thursday ribbon-cutting.

The lot will be served by five routes, including a new route specifically for the lot. It will pick up passengers every 20 minutes between 7 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays while UGA is in session. The route will travel directly between North Campus, downtown and the park and ride lot.

Four existing routes along Oconee Street/Lexington Road will run during their scheduled times and will pick up passengers from shelters on either side of the lot, but not inside of it.

Denson said she thinks it will cut down the congestion on Oak Street.

Athens-Clarke County also boasted of its environmentally-friendly features, such as pervious surfaces to allow rainwater to pass through and solar-powered lights.

While Congress approved the earmark in 2004, it was initially approved by the Athens-Clarke County Commission in 2007. Construction didn’t begin on the project until May 2012.

“It’s been a longtime coming,” said Athens-Clarke County transit department Director Butch McDuffie.

The lot will typically be free, except during University of Georgia home football games.

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